History of Gibson County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions, Part 53

Author: Stormont, Gil R
Publication date: 1914
Publisher: Indianapolis : B.F.Bowen
Number of Pages: 1284

USA > Indiana > Gibson County > History of Gibson County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions > Part 53

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On December 26, 1877, Samuel A. Stewart married Mary E. Danks, daughter of Thomas C. and Mary D. Danks, natives of Pittsburgh, Pennsyl- vania, and to this union have been born the following children: Edith D., wife of O. O. Watson, a merchant at Princeton; Charles H., who for twelve years was deputy postmaster at Princeton, but is now traveling for Swift & Company, with headquarters at Columbus, Indiana; Clara E. is assistant to her father; Mary E., who is at home, has just graduated from the public schools; Samuel Ayers, Jr., is a student at Purdue University. Mr. Stewart is a splendid example of the virile, progressive, self-made man, who believes in doing well what is worth doing at all, a man of keen discernment, sound judgment, strong minded and a follower of the principles embodied in the Golden Rule regarding his relations to his fellow-men. Therefore, he enjoys to the utmost their confidence and good will. He has been unselfish in his attitude toward public affairs, giving his support at all times to any movement which has had as its object the advancement of the public welfare, materially, morally or educationally. Therefore he is entitled to the enviable position which he holds in general public affairs.

EZEKIEL T. HOPKINS.

To write the personal record of men who raised themselves from humble circumstances to positions of responsibility and trust in a community is no ordinary pleasure. Self-made men, men who have achieved success by rea- son of their personal qualities and left the impress of their individuality upon the business growth of their place of residence and affect for good such in- stitutions as are embraced in the sphere of their usefulness, unwittingly, per- haps, built monuments more enduring than marble obelisk or granite shaft.

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Of such we have the unquestionable right to say belongs the gentleman whose name appears above.

Ezekiel T. Hopkins was born on October 14, 1846, near Fort Branch, Gibson county, Indiana, the son of Hiram A. and Martha J. (Ralston) Hopkins. The father was born in Bourbon county, Kentucky, in 1815, and the mother in Princeton, Indiana, in 1820. Hiram A. Hopkins was brought by his parents to Indiana in 1818 at the age of three years. These parents, Ezekiel and Polly ( Benson) Hopkins, were natives of Kentucky, and on com- ing to Indiana located between Owensville and Cynthiana, where the father located a tract of land and also operated a mill and a distillery. He located about five miles south of Princeton, Indiana, on the state road, where he spent the remainder of his years, his death occurring in 1853. He was widely known and a man of considerable prominence in this community. His wife died in Illinois. To them were born the following children: Willis, Hiram, James, Newton and Minerva. Hiram A. Hopkins lived on the home place until his marriage in 1827, receiving his education in the common schools. He engaged in school teaching in young manhood, but eventually located about one and one-half miles southeast of Fort Branch, on the state road, where he obtained a tract of government land, to the operation of which he devoted his attention during the remainder of his active life, his death occur- ring in 1874. He was survived many years by his widow, who died in Prince- ton in 1910, at the age of seventy-eight years. Hiram A. Hopkins was an old-line Whig in his original political views, but upon the organization of the Republican party he allied himself with that party. He was constable at one time and took an active interest in political affairs. Religiously, he was a member of the General Baptist church and his wife of the Cumberland Pres- byterian church. They were the parents of twelve children, of whom eleven grew to maturity. They are, Andrew R., now deceased, was a resident of Vincennes, Indiana; Mary A., of Fort Branch, is the widow of Silas M. Hol- comb; Helen M. is the widow of John King and resides in Princeton, In- diana; Cornelia is the wife of John F. Kenneth, of Fort Branch; Ezekiel T., the immediate subject of this sketch; Alice was the wife of Thomas D. Crumbaugh and both are now deceased; Isabella, who is now deceased, was the wife of William L. West, who is now living in Kansas; Elizabeth is the wife of Dr. A. C. Smith, of Indianapolis; Joseph N., deceased, was a prac- ticing physician in Liberty, White county, Illinois. He was educated in the public schools of Keokuk, Iowa, where he graduated. The eleventh child was a daughter, who died in infancy, and Ethel, wife of John W. Douglas, of Chicago.

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Ezekiel T. Hopkins attended the local schools of his neighborhood and later went to the high school at Owensville. He lived with his parents at home until twenty-five years old, when, after his marriage, he located at Cynthiana, Indiana, where he conducted farming operations and also prac- ticed veterinary surgery, in which he became an expert. Later, he located at Fort Branch for five years and then, in 1880, took up active farming at King's Station, where he has since lived. He is the owner of sixty-one acres of well-cultivated land, and during his active operation of this place, its well- kept appearance testified to the owner's good judgment and excellent taste, the attractive residence, the well-arranged barns and the highly-cultivated fields giving evidence of his progressive ideas and industrious habits. During the past seven years Mr. Hopkins has been retired from active labor, though he still maintains supervision over his farm. For several years Mr. Hopkins was also engaged in the grain business at King's Station, but his elevator burned in 1900, since which time he has not been engaged in that business.

On May 12, 1872, Mr. Hopkins married Sarah E. Cunningham, of King's Station, Gibson county, Indiana, the daughter of Joseph and Mary (Arbuthnot) Cunningham, the father a native of Hazelton, Indiana, and the mother of Princeton. They are both now deceased. Mrs. Hopkins died on January 26, 1905. She was one of six children, the others being John A., who was a soldier in the Civil war, in which conflict he gave up his life in defense of his country; Nancy J., deceased; George A., a leading lawyer in Evansville, Indiana; Alice E., the wife of Samuel Slater, of King's Station, Indiana, and Laura, the wife of John Gambrel, of Princeton. To Mr. and Mrs. Hopkins were born five children, namely: George A., who conducts a wholesale and retail house furnishing store at Carthage, Illinois, and who married Cordelia Kindle; P. C., who has for the past eighteen years been suc- cessfully engaged in the practice of law in Evansville; Mary R. is the wife of Roger Cleveland, a farmer one and one-half miles east of King's Station; Alice I., who is at home, has been a teacher in the Princeton public schools for the past six years; Theodore A. is a druggist at Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Being very deeply interested in educational affairs, Mr. Hopkins has seen to it that all of his children have received good educations and have been reared to respectable positions in life.

Politically, Mr. Hopkins has been a life-long Republican up to the last campaign, when he allied himself with the Progressive party, in whose sup- port he is enthusiastic. He served as deputy assessor of Patoka township for seven years. Religiously, he is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church at King's Station, to the support of which he contributes liberally of

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his time and substance. Mrs. Hopkins, who also was a member of that church for several years, was a school teacher prior to her marriage. Mr. Hopkins is the possessor of a large and well-selected library, being a close and constant reader and a student of the current questions of the day, and is considered a well-informed man, who is able to intelligently discuss all ques- tions. In many respects, Mr. Hopkins has labored for the material progress of the town and township, advocating laudable measures for the general good and sparing no reasonable efforts to advance the welfare of the community. His life has been characterized by integrity and usefulness and such has been his association with business and civic affairs that it is altogether proper that his career be perpetuated in this publication.

REUBEN PHILLIPS.

Among the farmers of Gibson county, Indiana, who have to their credit many long years spent in industriously and intelligently tilling the soil, is Reuben Phillips, of Patoka township. He comes of a good family, one that has always been strong for right living and industrious habits, for morality and for all that contributes to the welfare of the commonwealth. Such people are welcomed in any community, for they are empire builders and as such have pushed the frontier of civilization ever westward and onward, leaving the green wide-reaching wilderness and the far-stretching plains populous with contented people and beautiful with green fields; they have constituted that sterling horde which moved the great Bishop Whipple to write the memorable line, "Westward the course of empire takes its way."

Reuben Phillips was born February 3, 1841, in Perry county, Pennsyl- vania, the son of Peter and Mary (Kessler) Phillips, he of Berks county, Pennsylvania, and she of Perry county, that state. The father was a farmer and in 1853 came to Gibson county, where he located. Moved with patriot- ism, he enlisted in August, 1861, in the First Indiana Cavalry. His command led him through Missouri and Arkansas and he died in service in the fall of 1864, having been injured by the falling of his horse on July 4th of the same year. The wife went back to Pennsylvania in 1856 and died there in 1898. They were the parents of a family of seven children, namely: Frank, the eldest, was a farmer in Gibson county, Indiana, but died in 1855. The second child was Reuben, subject of this sketch; Elizabeth, died unmarried, at Pa- toka, Indiana, in 1864; Kate, who became the wife of John Thorne and re-

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sides in Pennsylvania; James, deceased; Sarah died in Patoka, Indiana, and Mary, living in Pennsylvania. The parents were consistent members of the Lutheran church and reared their family in that faith.

Reuben Phillips, who was but a lad when his parents came to Gibson county in 1853, had but limited opportunity for schooling in the rural dis- tricts of that day. On May 29, 1861, he enlisted in Company C, Seventeenth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, at Princeton, and was first ordered to Indianapolis. Later he was sent to Parkersburg, West Virginia, on into Maryland, back into West Virginia, to Louisville, Kentucky, and made all the long marches under General Thomas in Tennessee and Georgia. He was at Macon, Georgia, at the close of the war.

After receiving his discharge in 1865 Mr. Phillips returned to Gibson county, where, on March 22, 1867, he was united in marriage to Mary Stott, who was born in Ireland, a daughter of William and Margaret (Steele) Stott. Her parents were married in Ireland and emigrated to Canada in 1847, lo- cating near the city of Toronto, where her father engaged in farming. In 1858 the family moved to Gibson county, where Dr. John Stott, a brother, was residing in Princeton. Doctor Stott had been residing here since an early day and had often written his brother to come to Gibson county to assist him in caring for his farm property, which he continued to do until his death. His wife also died in Gibson county. They were members of the Reform Presbyterian church and were the parents of twelve children, three of whom are now living. The eldest was Mary, wife of the subject of this sketch; Thomas John, deceased; William Steele, deceased; Joseph, living in Gibson county ; Robert, deceased; Frank, a farmer in Gibson county; James and Ann, deceased, and four others who died in infancy.

After his marriage, Reuben Phillips farmned for nine years for Robert Mitchell, and he then farmed at Wheeling for eleven years, since which time he has confined his labors to agricultural work in Patoka township. He is a man who has always worked very hard and is wonderfully active and well preserved for his years. Reuben Phillips and wife are the parents of four children: William J., who remains at home unmarried and who deals in sand, grain and feed in Princeton; David, in the shoe business at Houston, Texas; Helen J., wife of O. A. Downey, a merchant at Francisco, Indiana, and Edith, wife of Joseph H. Laib, a promoter and insurance man of Prince- ton. There were also two other children who died in infancy.

Mr. Phillips is a member of the honored Grand Army of the Republic, Post No. 28, at Princeton, and his religious affiliation is with the Reformed

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Presbyterian church. Mr. Phillips has long had the best interests of this locality at heart and has sought to advance them in whatever way possible. His life has been characterized by untiring energy, uncompromising fidelity and an earnest desire to advance himself in his chosen line of work. He is held in high esteem by all who know him as a citizen of the best type, an honest and upright man.

SAMUEL F. BRASELTON.

Holding distinctive prestige among the enterprising citizens of Gibson county, Indiana, is Samuel F. Braselton, whose record, here briefly outlined, is that of a self-made man who, by the exercise of the talents with which nature endowed him, rose to the position he now occupies as one of the in- fluential and well-to-do men of the city honored by his residence. He is a creditable representative of one of the old and highly esteemed pioneer fam- ilies of this locality and possesses many of the admirable qualities and char- acteristics of his sturdy Kentucky ancestors, who migrated to Indiana in a very early day and figured in the history of this section of the state.

Samuel F. Braselton, enterprising farmer and successful business man, efficient public official and upright citizen, was born in Wayne county, Illinois, on October 22, 1844, and is the son of John and Nancy (Colvin) Braselton. The subject's father was born at Elizabethtown, Kentucky, March 8, 1808, and his wife was born on June 17, 1814, at the Robb settlement in New Har- mony, Indiana. John Braselton was a wagon-maker during his earlier life, but later followed farming. To him and his wife were born nine children, of whom all are living but two. Two were members of Company F, Thirty- third Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, during the Civil war, one, James, dying at Evansville, Indiana, and George H. dying in Kentucky. The sub- ject's father came with his parents in 1808 to Gibson county, settling near where the Southern railroad shops are now located, and here the grandfather, John Braselton, kept a tavern or half-way house, as they were then known. The subject's father spent the remainder of his days in Gibson county, his death occurring on September 3, 1887. His wife passed away the same year, her death occurring on the 3d day of February. Politically, John Braselton was first a Whig and after the formation of the Republican party he allied himself with that organization, took a deep interest in public affairs, espe-

SAMUEL F. BRASELTON.

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cially as relating to education, and as a school director he rendered efficient service to his community.

Samuel F. Braselton was reared under the parental roof. securing his education in the common schools of the county. As soon as large enough he gave his assistance to his father in the operation of the home farm and followed this vocation until the breaking out of the war of the Rebellion, when, on December 16, 1863, he enlisted in Company F, One Hundred and Twentieth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, which command was as- signed to the Army of the Cumberland, and with this command he took part in all the battles, marches and skirmishes incident to the historic Atlanta campaign. Mr. Braselton was slightly wounded at Kingston, North Carolina. From there he was sent to Goldsboro, North Carolina, and three days later met Sherman's army, with which, after a thirty-day rest, he moved to Ral- eigh, North Carolina. At the time of the surrender Mr. Braselton was de- tailed with about thirty others, and sent to Durham station at the time of the surrender of Johnson to Sherman, and he remained in the active service until 1866, his regiment being assigned to the gathering and shipping of arms and army supplies for the government. After being mustered out at Raleigh, North Carolina, Mr. Braselton returned to Indianapolis, Indiana, and soon afterwards returned to Gibson county. Here he followed agricultural pur- suits until February, 1875, when, moving to Princeton, he engaged in the tin and stove business. Two years later he disposed of this business and during the following two years was engaged as clerk in a store. Mr. Braselton then engaged in the monument manufacturing business, to which, during the fol- lowing twenty-seven years, he gave his undivided attention and in which he met with a splendid and well-merited success. In November, 1908. Mr. Braselton was elected trustee of Patoka township and is the present incum- bent of this office, his term not expiring until 1915, because of recent legisla- tive enactment. He has demonstrated ability of a high order in his own af- fairs, and in the discharge of his official duties he is applying the same sound principles as he would to his own affairs. He has been successful in life and he and his wife are the owners of one hundred and fifty acres of good farm- ing land and nine pieces of property in Princeton.

Politically, Mr. Braselton has been a life-long Republican and active in the support of this party. He served at one time as councilman from the first ward and has always been numbered among the foremost citizens of the com- munity. Religiously, he is a member of the Presbyterian church, while his

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fraternal relations are with the Grand Army of the Republic, having served as quartermaster for the Princeton post for twelve years.

On October 10, 1878, Samuel F. Braselton was married to Clara Kurtz, the daughter of William and Indiana (Arbuthnot) Kurtz, and to this union have been born three children, namely: Edgar K., a graduate of Purdue University. is the present representative of the Lilly Drug Company of In- dianapolis at Washington, D. C .; Edith, who is a teacher in the city schools of Princeton, was a student in Indiana and Chicago Universities; Daisey Dean, who took a kindergarten course in Indianapolis, and is a teacher in the city schools. Both daughters are at home. The splendid success which has crowned Mr. Braselton's efforts has been directly traceable to the salient points in his character, for he started in life at the bottom of the ladder, which he mounted unaided. He comes of a splendid American family, one that has always been strong for right living and industrious habits, for edu- cation and morality, for loyalty to the national government and for all that contributes to the welfare of the community, and because of his success in life and his high personal character he is clearly entitled to specific mention in the annals of his county.

JAMES W. CUNNINGHAM.

The student interested in the history of Gibson county does not have to carry his investigations far into its annals before learning that James W. Cunningham has long been one of its most active and leading citizens in its agricultural stock-raising interests and that his labors have been a potent force in making this a rich agricultural region. for through several decades he has carried on general farming, gradually improving his valuable place, and while he has prospered in this, he has also found time and ample oppor- tunity to assist in the material and civic development of the county.

James W. Cunningham, of Wabash township, this county, was born October 20, 1841, near Hazelton, and is the son of Stewart and Georgia Ann (Robb) Cunningham. His mother was a sister of David and Moses Robb, and was born and reared south of Hazelton, her parents having been among the early pioneers of that section. She is now living at the advanced age of ninety-six years. Stewart Cunningham was born in 1817, and was reared twelve miles north of Mt. Carmel. Illinois, and was a son of Buck Cunningham, who was of Scotch-Irish parentage. When Stewart Cunning-

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ham was a small child, his mother died and his father remarried At the age of fifteen the boy ran away from home, coatless and barefooted, came across the river to Mt. Carmel and worked a few days with an old settler by the name of Howe, helping him break the first ground between Gordon Hill and Patoka. Here he remained for the following winter, killing many a deer on the Gordon Hills when that part of the country was all wilderness. The last deer he killed was in Knox county, about 1873. After leaving Mr. Howe he went to the home of Smith Miller, about five miles south of Patoka, at what is now known as Miller's Station. Here he remained until he grew to ma- turity and here he married Georgia Ann Robb, who was a sister of Smith Miller's wife. He then engaged in farming on the farm where his widow now lives, three miles south of Hazleton, northeast of the Miller home. His wife had fallen heir to three hundred dollars, and with this money they bought the farm where she still resides, a period of over seventy years' residence in one place. Here Stewart Cunningham spent his life, his death occurring in 1900, at the age of eighty-three years. To Stewart Cunningham and his wife were born three children, James W., the immediate subject of this sketch ; B. F. Cunningham, of Patoka, and Lydia, who first married Robert Thomp- son, and after his death married Uriah Williams, and they live one and one- half miles north of Patoka.

James W. Cunningham grew up on the paternal homestead and early learned the habits of industry and self-reliance. He secured his education in the district schools of his home neighborhood, and upon attaining mature years he wisely chose agriculture for his vocation and for one year he rented his father's farm, and by energy and hard, persistent effort he cleared six hundred dollars, after which he went west during the years of the Civil war, and accompanied the first white train that ever went across Bridges and Bozeman's route through the Big Horn mountains to Virginia City, Mon- tana. From there he went to the gold mines and engaged in mining, in which he was very successful, but, like his fellow workers in that line, he spent his money almost as fast as he earned it. He remained in the mining regions for about eighteen months, at the expiration of which time he re- turned down the Yellowstone river in a boat, of which he was pilot. The trip was a long and perilous one, and many things of interest could be nar- rated of this journey. as well as of the lawlessness of the mining country in that early day. Mr. Cunningham worked three months in a government saw- mill at Omaha, Nebraska, getting out timbers for the Union Pacific railroad, then in process of construction. Work was plentiful and good help hard to secure in those early days of railroad building and Mr. Cunningham being a

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steady, practical, industrious worker, his services were in demand, he being very successful at whatever work he undertook, although he had but little opportunity for education in his boyhood days. At the expiration of his services with the railroad company he returned to the old home in Gibson county, Indiana, and again resumed farming, and after the first year here he, in partnership with Dan Miller, bought a threshing machine outfit, with which he was very successful, paying for the machine the first year, with a profit of three hundred dollars. Mr. Cunningham then bought out Mr. Mil- ler's interest in the machine and the next year cleared six hundred dollars. He continued in this business for two years with gratifying returns for his labor and investment, at the same time operating a farm. The first year after his return from the West, he and Mr. Miller took a flat boat loaded with corn down the river and conducted a coasting trip from Eggs Point, selling corn to farmers at one dollar per bushel. This was a very satisfactory and successful trip and resulted in much profit to Mr. Cunningham, as he had raised about three thousand bushels of corn himself, and he and his partner bought more corn at forty cents per bushel, thus realizing a handsome profit from the enterprise. A few years later he purchased an interest in a one- hundred-and-nineteen-ton steamboat on the river from Petersburg to Hazle- ton, and later his partner became financially embarrassed and Mr. Cunning- ham became the sole owner of the boat. The next year or two he operated this boat on the river and then traded it to Messrs. Blair and Batson for one hundred and twenty acres of land in Wabash township below the head of the big bayou. The following year he moved there and lived there for the next fifteen or twenty years, at the expiration of which period he rented the farm and moved to Stewartsville, where he lived for ten years. Here he bought a brick building and later sold it for fifteen hundred dollars, and while he owned this building, rented it for business purposes and was himself in busi- ness for two years. Ten years later he sold out his farm and other interests, and purchased a home and three lots at Griffin, for one thousand dollars, where he lived for four years, at the end of which time he sold this for fifteen hundred dollars, again realizing handsomely on his investment. About six years ago he moved to Crowleyville, where he has since resided. He is the owner of about twenty houses in this place, a grain elevator and is also the owner of one hundred and one acres of land near Crowleyville and two hun- dred and five acres of land in Wabash township, as well as twenty-nine acres in Knox county, this state, making a total of three hundred and thirty-five acres of land. Since living at Crowleyville he operated a flat boat on the river, carrying three thousand bushels of corn down the river from Vicksburg

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History of Gibson County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions, Part 53

Author: Stormont, Gil R Publication date: 1914 Publisher: Indianapolis : B.F.Bowen Number of Pages: 1284

Author: Stormont, Gil R
Publication date: 1914
Publisher: Indianapolis : B.F.Bowen
Number of Pages: 1284